How We Met
Anthony and I first met each other in June 2013 after graduating from college. We had both just begun jobs as actuaries at an insurance company in Manhattan, where Anthony had interned the year before. As an outsider (I interned at a different company the previous year) I knew nobody at the company and was eager to meet some of the other new actuaries who had just graduated college.
During one of the first weeks that summer, there was a Welcome Party in a conference room to meet all the new hires at the company, and that’s the first time I spotted Anthony. He was standing toward the back of the room talking to his friend Ian (his future Best Man!) and some other co-workers, so I decided to walk up to them and introduce myself. I was blown away by his blue eyes and big smile, and was immediately attracted to him.
Over the next couple of months, I found myself constantly thinking of ways to talk to him at work, or how I could figure out if he was going to be at happy hour that day. We had hung out a few times outside of work in a group setting with coworkers, and the more we talked, the more attracted to him I was. Finally, one Friday night in August we were out celebrating a coworker’s birthday and finally got to hang out, just the two of us. We spent all night drinking Long Island Iced Teas, dancing, and laughing. That weekend, he asked me out on our first date.
Our date was at a beautiful Michelin-star Italian restaurant in Manhattan and although we were both nervous, that quickly went away once we both admitted that we couldn’t understand half the items on the menu and cracked up laughing. The night went off without a hitch – we spent hours talking to one another as if we’d known each other our entire lives. From then on, we spent every weekend hanging out, going on dates, and exploring the city together. We started dating soon after, and the rest is history!
how they asked
For our anniversary this past summer, we decided to take a vacation to Key West, Florida. While planning our trip we thought it would be fun to sign up for a private dolphin-watching boat ride, so we scheduled the boat ride for our first full day there. Unfortunately, as the date of our trip got closer, the weather forecast kept getting worse and worse. A tropical storm was approaching Key West with the worst of the weather forecasted for our first day. Hoping for the best but planning for the worst, we packed rain jackets, ponchos, and umbrellas, and prayed that the weather would hold up while we were there.
We woke up the morning of the boat ride anticipating nothing but rain, but by some miracle it was completely sunny with not a cloud in the sky! When we arrived at the dock to meet our boat captain, I noticed a photographer was there and he soon informed us he’d be coming along on the ride to take photos for a local website. I was a little skeptical at first, but he really played the part so I figured he was legit.
We began our boat ride through the Keys, and on the way our captain pointed out an island he wanted to show us with an amazing private beach. We pulled up to the island, stepped off the boat, and walked along the beach while the photographer left to go take pictures of the scenery. While walking along the shoreline I couldn’t stop thinking about how gorgeous the island was and how great the day was turning out so far. As we approached the end of the beach, Anthony stopped walking and slowly pulled me back as he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring.
I was so overwhelmed with emotions that everything seemed to turn into one big blur. Next thing I knew, I was saying “Yes!” and Anthony slipped a gorgeous diamond ring onto my finger.
Afterwards I looked back to see Mike, our photographer, who’d been hiding behind us capturing the entire thing, cheering from the beach. Having the entire island to ourselves, we did a photo shoot and then headed back to the boat, which was filled with rose petals and champagne.
We finished off our boat ride (and yes, we finally did go dolphin watching!), called our families to tell them the news, and headed off to another boat ride where we were taken to a romantic restaurant on yet another private island. It was the most perfect day, and we’re so thankful that Mike was able to capture it all so well!
